Getty Royce O'Neale of the Brooklyn Nets after hitting a big shot over the Golden State Warriors.
The Brooklyn Nets picked up a big-time win on Sunday night, taking down the reigning champion Golden State Warriors on their own home floor. Golden State has been one of the best home teams in the league this year, but Brooklyn came back from down 17 points and picked up the win.
Brooklyn completely dominated the second half of the game, with Kyrie Irving and Nicolas Claxton combining for 40 second-half points. But in the final minute of the game, down by one point, it was Royce O’Neale who hit the clutch three. After the game, when asked about Golden State’s inability to maintain leads as of late, Stephen Curry name-dropped O’Neale.
“Just not sustaining a high level of execution on either end of the floor, letting the momentum slip away, and then, it’s a mak or miss situation down the stretch,” Curry said via the JER – Sports Journalist YouTube channel. “Jaylen Brown hits that three, Royce O’Neale hits one tonight. You give teams an ability to go win the game, you know, with a possession here, a possession, it’s the NBA, and we’ve been on the wrong side of it. Where beaten ourselves in a certain portion of the game that gives the other team life, and that’s what happens.”
O’Neale had a relatively big game for the Nets, finishing with 16 points, six rebounds, and two blocks on 6-of-10 shooting from the field and 4-of-7 shooting from three-point range. However, in the second half, he only made one shot. Luckily for him and the Nets, it was the one that mattered most.
Meanwhile, Curry played well, but it just wasn’t enough to pick up the victory. He ended the night with 26 points, six rebounds, and seven assists on 7-of-16 shooting from the floor and 4-of-8 shooting from distance. Curry struggled in the second half, though, scoring 12 points but shooting 2-of-10 from the field and 2-of-5 from deep.
Nicolas Claxton Amped After Royce O’Neale Shot
Curry wasn’t the only one who will remember O’Neale’s big-time shot, Claxton will, too. Only, Claxton will remember it a bit more fondly than Curry will. After the game, Claxton caught up with Meghan Triplett of YES Network and delivered an NSFW response when asked about O’Neale’s clutch bucket.
“He’s got big b****,” Claxton told Triplett via Erik Slater of Clutch Points. “He steps up in the crunch time.”
The Nets big man played a crucial role in their win over the Warriors, too. He ended the game with 24 points, 15 rebounds, a steal, and three blocks on 9-of-13 shooting from the field.
Kyrie Irving Sounds Off After Win Over Warriors
Irving was thrilled after Brooklyn’s win over Golden State, too. After the game, he talked about the idea of scoring options, noting that he’s going to do whatever it takes to win games, regardless of what option he is.
“This is just a message for everybody at home: first option, second option, third option – it don’t f***** matter to me,” Irving said via the team’s official YouTube channel. “It don’t matter who has the ball in their hands as long as they’re being aggressive and it’s the best shot for our team.”
